Some Chatter About OPC, Franklin, Russellville in Alabama

There is a lot of chatter going on on the Cafepharma message board, including mention of a pharmacist working in Russellville at the time of the FBI raid in August who was found dead of a gunshot. To view this message board, click here

No ruling coming in compounding dispute

No ruling coming in compounding dispute

Franklin, Sheffield and Russellville Compounding Pharmacies In Alabama: Will these Supposedly Federal Health Care Fraud Investigations Now Become More in Light of the Meningitis Outbreak?

In August 2012, numerous agencies, including the FBI, DEA, FDA, Alabama's attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Unit and the Alabama Board of Pharmacy, here and here executed a search warrant on three Alabama phamacies, Franklin, Sheffield, and Russellville.  All three specialized in compounding drugs.  More specifically, all three were involved in compounding pain medication cremes.  At the time of the search, sources reported that it was not the compounded drugs in questions but the business practices of these pharmacies.  See here  The investigating agencies were seen carrying out boxes of documents that were confiscated from the facilities.  These documents were then supposedly taken to the FBI's Birmingham office for review.  The question of ownership of these pharmacies, which was previously reported on, see here, here and here  is still being reported on:

WHNT News 19 has schooled that Rodney Logan, a owners of both a Sheffield and Russellville pharmacies, was during one time business partners with Tim Aaron, who owns Franklin Pharmacy.
In a “Healthy Horizons” publication, an ad printed in Oct of 2010, showed ‘Optimal Pain Control’ as being a multiplication of Russellville Pharmacy, owned by Rodney Logan.

Since that publication, OPC RX has altered hands, and annals uncover it is now listed as being operated on Mustang Drive in Russellville.
It’s a same residence inventory as Franklin Pharmacy, that is owned by Tim Aaron, and employs scarcely dual hundred people.
Since a businesses split, Rodney Logan has non-stop another multiplication to a Sheffield Pharmacy, Sheffield Expert Compounding.
In fact, according to cinema posted on a company’s Facebook page, a laboratory for blending a drugs was combined in a bureau space subsequent to Sheffield Pharmacy.

Source is here.  No arrest have been made at this point, and it can take years to review and indict large health care fraud cases. But in light of the recent meningitis scare will the agencies now be taking a look at other charges such as misbranding drugs.  This blog already questioned whether or not these pharmacies were "manufacturing" instead of compounding.  See here.  Especially since it employed more than 200 people.  See here

Video News Report on Franklin and Russellville Pharmacies

Channel 48 news out of Alabama has a video news story regarding the searches at the Franklin  and Russellville Pharmacies,

Click here to watch video.

Franklin Pharmacy: Was It a Manufacturing Plant

Pen N Sword blog has a detailed description of Franklin Pharmacy.  The blog begins with:

Travel south on Hwy 43 into Russellville and you may easily miss Franklin Pharmacy. It sits at the northern entrance to the small town, located just off the four-lane in a low-lying area not easily observed. A large billboard displays an arrow pointing downward to the two year old complex. Why such a strange location?

Franklin Pharmacy is not just a drug store, but also a manufacturing plant. Among their many compounded products is Optimal Pain Control or OPC, a pain relief cream that is individually tailored to each patient and that has made what locals call a large fortune for owner Tim Aaron. Connected to the drug store is a large metal building where hundreds of workers produce this golden goose, or at least did until last week.

To read the rest of the Pen N Sword blog click here.

Franklin Pharmacy Suspending Its Compounding Operation in Russellville: It Employed Close ot 200 People

Closing of compounding center to affect many

Published 6:00am Saturday, August 18, 2012

When the state unemployment numbers were released Friday, Franklin County’s jobless claims for July held steady at 9.7 percent, just slightly above the 9.6 percent reported in June.
The county’s July rate represents 1,315 individuals, but that number is certain to rise on the heels of Thursday’s announcement that Franklin Pharmacy would be suspending its compounding operation in Russellville.
Though company officials have not commented publicly, several employees of the pharmacy confirmed Friday that they were sent home Thursday and told that the compounding operation would be closed. Close to 200 people were employed there and it is uncertain how many will remain.
The announcement was made one week after federal and state agencies raided Franklin Pharmacy and two others, Russellville Pharmacy and Sheffield Pharmacy.
To read remainder of article click here

More Information on Ownership and Entity Status of Alabama Compounding Pharmacies Searched by FBI

Shoalanda Speaks blog is reporting more information this morning regarding the ownership and entity status of the compounding pharmacies raided in Alabama.  That article can be found here  and is quoted below:

Initial reports from the FBI on Wednesday identified one of two raided Franklin County pharmacies as Franklin County Pharmacy. Within two hours, the press release had been changed to Franklin Health-Mart Pharmacy. Today a spokesman from Franklin Pharmacy has addressed charges of insurance fraud; we now infer this to be the correct name of the third business raided.

Timothy A. Aaron, owner of Franklin Pharmacy, has previously worked at Sheffield Pharmacy (one of the other two raided) and the Drug Shop in Russellville. He's now listed as licensed in Franklin County only. According to their ads, the pharmacy specializes in a product dubbed Optimal Pain Control, or OPC. Established in 2010, the business operates from a steel frame building just off Hwy. 43 north of downtown Russellville.

The drug store is listed as an LLC; however, it appears to be operating under an umbrella corporation. The pharmacy's principal income is produced via sales of OPC. One source reported to us that its gross receipts from this pain formula last year were 250K. A few other sources that we could not verify have placed the figure much, much higher. Apparently the majority of this revenue is generated through online sales.

One reader reported Russellville Pharmacy still closed this morning, while a second reported it was open at some point. Hopefully any problems with accounting won't affect the day to day operation of these businesses. Employees, including associate pharmacists, have no control over the business practices of their employers. There are reportedly over 300 employees of these three pharmacies, all we assume doing the jobs for which they were hired. Let's remember that.